There has been much anticipation for a  new production of Richard III at the Old Vic in London with Kevin Spacey in the title role.  It is set to open on 29 June and I know that some of our Ricardian friends in the UK have got tickets to go and see it.  Kevin Spacey has been the artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre Company since 2003.

The production will be directed by Sam Mendes, both Mendes and Spacey worked together on the 1999 movie American Beauty, for which they both won Oscars.  It will be part of the Bridge Project, which has been a three-year US-British collaboration.

After the initial season in London, the production will tour the world – and will also come to Sydney, the only Australian city to be included.  This will be the first production of the Old Vic Theatre Company to be staged in Australia since 1948, when Laurence Olivier brought also Richard III.
From 1 December there will be 11 performances at the Lyric Theatre.  Tickets go on sale on 25 July.

Of course Shakespeare’s Richard III is a marvellous stage villain, but as my prof at Bonn uni all those years ago said “he does not seem to bear much resemblance to the real person”.

For more info on the stage production read the announcements in the Daily Telegraph, from Nine News as well as an older article from the Guardian.  For more info on the relationship between play and reality have a look here.

Tags: Richard III, Shakespeare